The present invention relates to reclosable packaging and, in particular to an improved zipper for use in the manufacture of such packaging.
Reclosable plastic bags are growing increasingly popular both for storage purposes and as primary packaging for food stuffs and other products. Such bags are formed with plastic zipper having profiles with mating interengageable elements. A problem that has been encountered with such zippers is that when the user opens the zipper, if too much force is exerted a run may develop down one or both side seams of the bag. To avoid this from happening, it has heretofore been proposed to crimp or crush the ends of the zipper. While such crimping works fine for sliderless packages, the result is not always satisfactory when a slider is provided to facilitate opening and closing the zipper elements. In such case, the slider may be pulled over the crimp and off the package if too much force is exerted.
In order to maintain the slider on the zipper profiles, it has heretofore been suggested to provide stops at the ends of the zipper. The prior art is replete with suggestions as to how the end stops may be formed. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,121 end stops are formed of the material at the ends of the zipper by deforming the material to extend outwardly from the sides of the bag. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,286, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,807 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,791 a clip is provided at the ends of the zipper.
In accordance with the present invention a zipper is disclosed for use in the production of reclosable plastic bags of the type having said zipper extending across a top end of the bag. The zipper has a first profile member and a second profile member that is interengageable with the first profile member. The exact profile configuration may be one of many conventional shapes that are well known in the art. At bag length intervals of the zipper notches are formed by removing at least a portion of the first profile member and a portion of the second profile member. A mold is positioned about each of the notches and a molten thermoplastic material is introduced into the mold cavity filling the notch and extending beyond the notch and over the zipper top so that when the molten thermoplastic material is cooled, an end stop is formed in situ at each of the notches.